


Something There

by dragonwings948



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold in the Dark Castle, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold in the Enchanted Forest, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Feeding Birds, Fluff, Fluff in the Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time), POV Belle (Once Upon a Time), POV Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Snow, Snow Day, The Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time), The Enchanted Forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 17:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13082229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: When Belle helps Rumple feed some hungry birds outside the Dark Castle, she discovers something in his eyes that she's never seen before.





	Something There

**Author's Note:**

> This is obviously based on the scene from Beauty and the Beast during "Something There" where Belle helps the Beast feed the birds; I watched the movie (for the millionth time) recently and I thought that I HAD to write Rumple and Belle in that scene. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! :)

            “Good morning,” Belle said with a smile as she entered the trophy room, her arms laden with a tea tray. Rumplestiltskin sat facing her at the far end of the long table, as usual. Though it had been freezing in the castle all morning, the frigid air suddenly seemed to cut through Belle’s long sleeves and cause her to shiver, rattling the tray she carried.

            Rumplestiltskin huffed in reply to the greeting and accompanied it with a sort of half-hearted waving off with his hand.

            “Did something happen last night while you were away?” Belle ventured as she set the tea tray down on the table. She glanced up at his face, trying to read his expression. Though his face was a difficult one to discern, Belle had learned that his true emotions remained hidden in his eyes.

            Perhaps he had caught onto her trick, because he kept his gaze downcast. “It’s none of your business,” he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

            With a quiet sigh, Belle poured his tea in his cup, the chipped one, wondering again for the umpteenth time why he insisted on drinking out of it. If he had wanted to, he most surely could have fixed it with magic.

            “Daydreaming again, dearie?”

            Rumplestiltskin’s cynical tone pulled Belle from her thoughts and she realized that she had paused with her hand on the cup, ready to bring it to him. “Just thinking,” she said with a shake of her head, hurrying over to hand him his cup.

            “You’re not here to _think,”_ Rumplestiltskin said with a sneer as he took the chipped teacup from her hand. He took a sip of his tea and raised his eyebrows at her. “Thinking only gets you into trouble.”

            Belle smiled to herself at how silly it sounded. She turned and made her way to the other end of the table, pouring herself some tea. “And I suppose you don’t _think_ when you’re making your deals?”

            “That’s why I said thinking will get _you_ into trouble, dearie; not _me,”_ he replied, quick-witted as ever.

            “But life would be so dull if I couldn’t think and dream.” She lifted the teacup to her lips and took a small sip. The warmth of the liquid sent a good tremor down her spine.

            Rumplestiltskin’s eyebrows furrowed the tiniest bit, though otherwise he still gave off an air of indifference. “How is that?”

            Belle looked into his eyes, now locked with hers, and could see the curiosity in them. He wanted to know what occupied her thoughts. “Well…” Belle took a step toward his end of the table, watching the tea ripple inside her cup. “I do like to think about my books. But a lot of times, I…” She paused to look up at him, seeing that she had captured his attention. “I think about home. About my Papa.” Expecting a reprimand to follow, she looked down once more. “And I dream about what the world is like outside of this place.”

            He nodded absently as if he hadn’t been listening and set his teacup down on the table. “I’ll be brewing a potion, so don’t disturb me.” Without another word, he was gone in a swirl of purple smoke.

            Belle blew an aggravated sigh from her lips and shook her head. Why did he have to be so difficult to figure out? If only she knew _why_ sometimes he looked like he was hanging on her every word and then dismissed her completely the next moment.

            Pushing her thoughts to the side, Belle collected the teacups and took the tea tray back to the kitchen. As soon as she set the tray down, a tap at the window made her jump. She looked up to see a bird pecking against the window, white flecks of snow gathering on its blue feathers.

            Belle grinned. Animal visitors had been rare since the beginning of winter, especially since it had been snowing just about nonstop since yesterday. “Hello,” Belle said to the bird. It cocked its head at her as if it could understand the greeting and then struck its beak against the window once more.

            “Are you hungry?” she wondered more to herself than the small creature. “I think,” she continued as she turned, “that I have just the thing.”

* * *

 

             Rumplestiltskin threw a large root into the purplish concoction in front of him, trying desperately to concentrate on what he was doing. One steer’s horn, a bit of melted wax, five lily petals…

            Belle had picked lilies from the garden just before winter had begun. He so clearly remembered her smile as she had found a vase and placed them in the center of the table. That beaming, brilliant smile…

            With a cry of rage, Rumple threw the horn across the room and began pacing, rubbing his temples. What was wrong with him? or, perhaps, _her?_ Was she some sort of siren? Why couldn’t he get her out of his head?

            Maybe it was just because he hadn’t lived with another human being in so long. Yes, that had to be it. Maybe he just needed some distance from the castle. He could go away for a few days, go toy with some desperate souls in dire need of his help. Surely that would clear his mind.

            But why was the thought of Belle all alone in the castle troubling to him? He knew she wouldn’t dare meddle with his things. Then why did he hesitate to leave her?

            As he paced, a blob of red from outside the window caught his eye, easily visible against the backdrop of white snow. He paused and walked over to the glass, astonished to see Belle kneeling on the ground, hands outstretched toward a small blue bird. Was that…birdseed in her hands?

            He grit his teeth at the thought. She hadn’t asked him if she could use _his_ birdseed. Though perhaps it was better, for she wouldn’t ask him why he had it…

            Rumplestiltskin pushed memories of Baelfire toward the back of his mind and honed in on his anger. Belle had broken one rule, at least, for she wasn’t allowed outside without his permission. He would show her that he was not to be trifled with.

            With a snap of his fingers, Rumplestiltskin watched the room around him vanish and morph into the snow covered ground outside.

* * *

 

            Belle jumped as her master appeared right in front of her. The bird she had been feeding promptly flew away with a chirp of surprise.

            “Rumplestiltskin!” She shot up to a standing position, letting the birdseed in her hands fall into the snow. “I thought—”

            “You thought you could fool me?” His voice was much lower than usual, almost like a growl, a sure sign that he was angry. “Thought you could just run away without me knowing?”

            By instinct, Belle backed up a step. “No! I just wanted to feed the birds. They looked hungry.”

            “With _my_ birdseed?”

            Belle looked down at the small leather pouch in her hand that contained just a miniscule amount of the seed that had been in the kitchen. Why was he so defensive over it?

            “I’m sorry,” Belle said in a quiet voice. “I didn’t know.” She held the pouch out to him and he grabbed it so forcefully that some of the seed spilled out onto his hand. “Why do you have it?”

            He winced, as if he had been expecting the question. “I don’t remember.”

            If there was one thing Belle knew from his expression, it was when he was lying.

            “I don’t have a use for it, anyway,” he said with a sigh, his anger seeming to diffuse into sadness. “The birds don’t come to me.”

            Belle wondered why feeding the birds had such a melancholy connotation for him. “They might, if you offer it to them the right way.” Belle smiled at him as he looked at her in confusion. “Here,” she said with a chuckle, reaching slowly for the pouch. He let her take it and she poured some of the seed into her hand. “Cup your hands like this.”

            “I don’t have time for this,” he said with a frown and a wave, turning to walk back toward the castle.

            “Well,” Belle said, raising her eyebrows. “If you really _can’t_ do it then there’s no point anyway.”

            Rumplestiltskin paused and Belle hid a smile underneath a questioning look.

            “It’s not that I _can’t_ do it,” Rumple sneered as he grabbed a handful of birdseed from her hands. “It’s simply a waste of time, dearie, and Rumplestiltskin does _not_ waste time.” Yet he lowered himself to his knees and held out his cupped hands. The bluebird landed in the snow just a few feet away, slowly hopping forward. As the bird was just one more hop away, Rumplestiltskin thrust the birdseed towards it. The bird chirped and took to the air again.

            “This is pointless,” he grumbled as he started to stand up.

            “Rumple!” Belle chided out of instinct, her cheeks growing warm as she realized she had used the nickname she always called him in her head. “-stiltskin,” she finished quickly, though she knew the use of the name wouldn’t escape his notice. “Try again.”

            Curiosity sparked in Rumplestiltskin’s eyes and he gazed at her with a furrowed brow. The look was gone in a moment and he frowned, but lowered his hands to the ground again. The bird landed further away this time and cocked its head to the side as if unsure.

            Belle slowly knelt beside Rumplestiltskin and took a pinch of birdseed from his hands. She made a short trail of it in the snow leading towards him, and in a moment the bird fluttered its wings and alighted closer to him.

            “Don’t move,” Belle whispered. Rumplestilskin stayed still as a statue as the bird pecked at the thin trail of seed, looked up, and then flew right into Rumplestiltskin’s hands.

            Belle heard him inhale sharply and had to stifle a giggle. She turned her head to look at him and saw that he was gazing down at the bird, his eyes filled with a sort of wonder and happiness; something she hadn’t seen in him before.

            Rumple met her gaze after a moment, and Belle couldn’t believe how _human_ he looked. There was something totally new in his expression, like he was trying to tell her something. But what?

            A loud chirp interrupted Belle’s thoughts and she couldn’t help but laugh as a different bird descended on Rumplestiltskin’s shoulder. Soon another bird landed on his arm, and another on his head. Rumple’s eyes rolled upward as if to try and see the creatures, and his look of amazement melted into an uneasy frown. He shook his head and the birds promptly flew away, emitting startled chirps.

            Belle’s laughter trailed off as she watched the birds leave, but a happy, light feeling remained, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. As she turned back to Rumplestiltskin she saw that he was watching her with a strange look in his eyes.

            “What is it?” Belle asked.

            Rumple’s eyes went wide like he was a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He quickly averted his gaze and brushed a few flecks of snow from his sleeves. “I want you to leave some of the birdseed out here.”

            Belle looked down at the bag in her hand. “You want me to just leave it in the snow?”

            “Of course not.” He held out his hand and a small metal structure appeared in his open palm amidst a puff of purple smoke. Belle realized that it was a bird feeder, with a place inside to store birdseed and small openings to allow the birds to access it.

            “Hang it on that tree there,” Rumplestiltskin added, pointing to a large, sturdy tree with a thick trunk.

            Belle smiled. She could have told him she knew it was all a pretense for him to show a little kindness, but instead she simply stated, “I thought the birdseed was yours.”

            Instead of immediately defending himself, as he usually did, Rumplestiltskin’s voice was soft as he stared at the bag of birdseed. “It’s mine to do with as I wish.” And with that he turned and strode towards the castle. “And make sure to refill the birdseed when it’s gone, dearie!” he added over his shoulder, his vigor returning.

            Belle watched him leave, unable to keep from smiling. Today, she had seen something in Rumplestiltskin that she had never seen before.

           


End file.
